The purpose of this research has been to design metal complexes that will have many properties of metallo-enzymes - especially their catalytic activities and stereospecificities in binding certain substrates. We have a good understanding of metal complex catalysis of amino acid esters, and have begun studies of metal complex binding of optically active amino acids. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: P.R. Rechani, R.Nakon, and R.J. Angelici, "Stereoselective Binding of Cu(II), Zn(II), Co(II), and Ni(II) to the Optically Active Amino Acids, Beta-(2-Pyridyl)-alpha-alanine and Beta-(6-methyl-2-pyridyl) -alpha-alanine, Analogs of Histidine and Phenylalanine", Bioinorg. Chem., 5, 329 (1976). M.H. Quick and R.J. Angelici, "Organic Cyanate, Thiocyanate, and Selenocyanate Complexes of Chromium and Tungsten Carbonyls", Inorg. Chem., 15, 160 (1976).